


The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes

by ZombieMerlin



Series: Phic Phight 2020 [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Because it wouldn't be one of my fics if there isn't an identity reveal, Gen, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23438155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieMerlin/pseuds/ZombieMerlin
Summary: "Baby brother? You okay?""MMmmmMmMmMMMMm," Danny says in response. Jazz and Maddie exchange glances."I'm... not sure what that means," Jazz admits. Then, her eyes light up in understanding. A sympathetic frown pulls down her lips. She hesitates, glancing at Maddie, before turning back to her brother's door."Is it related to the thing?""Yes," Danny says immediately.Jazz exhales heavily. Maddie stares.Her children are hiding something from her.--In which Danny is stuck as Phantom and afraid to come out of his room, and his mother is worried.
Series: Phic Phight 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686100
Comments: 38
Kudos: 714
Collections: Phic Phight!





	The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ghostanimal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostanimal/gifts).



Maddie Fenton knocks on the door of her son's bedroom, a small frown on her face. Is he alright? It's two o'clock on a Saturday. He has a tendency to sleep in on weekends, but this is a bit much even for him. 

"Danny? Are you alright?" 

"Mom! Don't come in!" 

There's something wrong with his voice. It sounds different somehow. That definitely sets off alarm bells, though she does take a step back from the door. He _is_ a teenage boy. He does... things, that she would rather not think about. This might just be nothing. He may just be embarrassed. Hormones are a thing, and she's found more crusty socks in the laundry than she would like to acknowledge. The voice may just be another odd puberty thing.

"Sweetie, is something wrong?" Maddie asks, just in case. 

"Um." A pause. Then, a sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, something's wrong." 

Oh. He's actually admitting it? Something must be _very_ wrong, then. She wants nothing more than to tear the door down and help him with whatever his problem is, but she respects his privacy and the fact that she would be the one paying for the broken door. 

"Can I help at all? Or, uh, is this a conversation you should be having with your father?" 

"No, please, _God_ , no," he says too quickly. 

There's another long silence. 

"You're gonna freak out," he says quieter. 

"I'm not going to 'freak out'," Maddie says, freaking out. Did he _do_ something? Is he injured? Is he gay and working up the courage to come out? What could he possibly have gotten into that he doesn't want to show her? He knows she'll support him no matter what, right?

"Yeah, you definitely are."

Across the hall, Jazz opens the door to her room and pops her head out, head tilted in silent question. 

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Maddie whispers. Jazz steps closer and shakes her head. 

"Baby brother? You okay?"

"Mm-MMmmmMmMmMMMMm," Danny says in response. Jazz and Maddie exchange glances. 

"I'm... not sure what that means," Jazz admits. Then, her eyes light up in understanding. A sympathetic frown pulls down her lips. She hesitates, glancing at Maddie, before turning back to her brother's door. "Is it related to the _thing?"_

"Yes," Danny says immediately. 

Jazz exhales heavily. Maddie stares. 

Her children are hiding something from her. 

"Jasmine Fenton," Maddie says sternly. "What are you both talking about?"

Jazz bites her lip. Then instead of answering, she says to Danny's door:

"Do you want me to leave? Or... do you want Mom to leave?" 

Maddie opens her mouth, ready to protest, but Jazz puts her hands together in a silent plea and mouths " _trust me."_ Maddie pouts. Why would her baby boy not want her to be there? She just wants to help. 

"... no. I think... stay. Both of you. I think, I... Jazz?" 

"Yeah?" 

"I'm gonna tell her."

"... you are?" 

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?" 

"No." 

"Okay." 

Silence. Maddie is seconds away from demanding an explanation from at least _one_ of them when Danny says,

"I'm gonna call Sam."

"Oh. Why?"

"She'll do it." 

"Danny," Jazz says, voice flat. "You're gonna have Sam do it? _Really_?"

"Yep," Danny replies decisively. Footsteps fade away from the door, and then return.

"I could do it," Jazz offers. 

"Too late, I'm already calling her." The muffled sound of his phone calling someone floats through the air. Jazz facepalms, dragging her hand down her face.

"Jazz, Danny, what is going on?" Maddie tries again. She considers going downstairs to grab Jack for reinforcements. That's probably a bad idea, honestly. She stays put. 

"In a sec, Mom. Here," Danny says. He slides his battered phone under the door. Sam's name is on the screen accompanied by a skull, a bat, and a purple heart emoticon. Underneath that is the word " _calling..."_ Bewildered, Maddie grabs the phone.

"When she picks up, tell her to tell you The Thing." 

"The thing?" Maddie repeats, but then Sam's voice answers the phone. 

"Hey, Danny. You feeling okay after last night?" 

Maddie's blood runs cold. Of course the first thing her mind goes to is sex, there's quite possibly no stronger association with the phrase "last night." Danny _is_ a teenager, and it's an embarrassing topic. She can see him not wanting to talk about it, but that doesn't explain why he wouldn't want to come out of his room. Unless... he has an _STD?_

"What happened last night?" Maddie demands before her imagination can come up with anything else. 

"Oh! Mrs. Fenton! Uh. Nothing!" Sam says quickly. 

Maddie makes eye contact with Jazz. Her daughter stares back, seeming apprehensive. She has one arm hugging her ribs, and she bites at a fingernail on her other hand. 

Fine, then. Maddie will figure out what that meant later. For now... 

"Danny told me to tell you to tell me 'the thing.'"

"Um... seriously?" Sam asks incredulously. "Um, is he there?" 

"Yes. He has locked himself in his bedroom and refuses to come out because apparently I will 'freak out' and neither him or Jazz will tell me what the problem is. So! I am _asking_ you, Samantha: what is 'the thing'?"

Sam makes a quiet, distressed sound. "I... um. Sorry. I just— sorry, can you ask him if he's sure? If he means like The Big Thing?" 

Maddie pulls away from the phone and presses it to her chest. She closes her eyes and prays for patience as panic and annoyance war within her. 

"Daniel." 

"Yes, ma'am?" he squeaks. 

"Your friend would like me to ask if you're sure, if you mean The Big Thing."

"Yes. I mean The Big Thing. Like. _The_ Thing." 

Maddie sighs and relays the message back to Sam. 

"Okay..." Sam says, still sounding unsure. "Um... do you remember when Danny got the portal working?"

Maddie blinks. She'd been expecting something about drugs, maybe, or a pregnancy or even a tattoo gone wrong. But no... this is _ghost-related_ somehow? 

"Yes?" Maddie says cautiously. 

"Yeah. Um." Sam hesitates. "It changed him." 

Oh.

What?

"Mrs. Fenton?" 

"I'm here."

"Cool, cool, cool. Um..."

"How did it change him? Is he alright?" 

Sam takes a deep breath, and then slowly exhales. Maddie almost wants to snap at her to get on with it, but-

" _Itgavehimghostpowers._ "

"Excuse me?"

"The accident. It, uh. It gave him ghost powers."

What? _What?_ How is that possible? That doesn't make any sense. There's no way. Humans can't have ghost powers. But then... then she remembers all the inventions that have malfunctioned around Danny, malfunctions that she and Jack always write off as odd flukes. 

Oh no.

Possibly nervous from Maddie's silence, Sam barrels on. "Yeah. He's okay, though! Or. He _was_ okay. I'm not sure what the situation is right now but it probably isn't great if he's asking me to tell you and yeah okay I'm gonna stop talking now." 

"..."

"Mrs. Fenton?"

"What happened last night?" 

"Okay, um. Before that, ma'am just gimme a second. There's something else," Sam hedges. She has the same tone that Danny uses when he tries to tell Maddie about a bad test grade before a teacher emails about it, and Maddie prepares for something she's not going to want to hear. 

"What is it?" Maddie asks. 

She's honestly surprised at how calm she sounds, when the inside of her mind is Klaxon sirens and a growing urge to kick Danny's door down, cost be damned. 

"You know that ghost boy that fights other ghosts?" 

"That nuisance? Did he do something to Danny? Oh, when I get my hands on him—"

"No, no, no. You don't get it. That _is_ Danny." 

"What?"

"The ghost boy. Danny Phantom. That's your son. The accident, it- He can transform into a ghost, or, his ghost half, I guess? God, that sounds insane, I've never actually had to say that aloud before, but. That's the truth. Um. Ma'am."

_Error. Maddie_Fenton.exe has stopped working._

"Mrs. Fenton?"

"..."

"Mrs. Fenton? Hello?"

Maddie stares at Jazz again, feeling numb. Jazz quietly says something that sounds suspiciously like, "oh, no," and moves to stand directly in front of Danny's door, gently nudging her mother out of the way. Maddie doesn't understand... but then she does. 

She's putting herself between her brother and her mother.

"...Mrs. Fenton?" Sam asks again. Maddie has never heard her sound so afraid.

"I'm going to pass you back to Danny, now," Maddie says. 

"Oh. Uh. Okay?" 

Maddie bends down, moving around Jazz a little to push the phone back under Danny's door. She sees the shadow of her son's feet shift as he picks up the device. There are a few whispers, and then silence. 

"...Mom?" 

"Danny, please open the door." 

"... _Jazz?_ "

"Mom, what are you going to do?" Jazz asks. Her voice is level, but she widens her stance noticeably and spreads her arms across Danny's doorway. 

Maddie's heart cracks in half.

"You think I'm going to hurt him?" 

"Are you?"

" _No!"_ Maddie's cheeks are wet, though she isn't sure when she started crying.

Jazz's face morphs from determined to apologetic, and she shifts like she's going to step forward, but then she leans back again. 

"Promise you're not going to do anything?" Jazz asks, voice softer.

Maddie wordlessly holds her hands up in response. She has a prototype blaster in her back pocket, but Jazz doesn't have to know that. 

"...Danny, I think you're good," Jazz calls softly. 

There's a 'click' as the door unlocks. Maddie pushes past a protesting Jazz and searches the room frantically. He's not in here? 

"Danny?"

"I'm— Oh. Sorry. I got nervous." 

And then the ghost boy appears in front of her. 

The odd quality of his voice she had noticed earlier is actually the odd, echo-y quality that Phantom's voice has for some reason. The hunter in her wants to pull out her the blaster from her jumpsuit and violently eject this _ghost_ out of her son's room, but her eyes fix on the gloved hand that nervously rubs at the back of his neck. Danny does that. Before he got good at lying, it was a tell that belied any anxiety he was feeling. Nowadays it's more of an embarrassed gesture, but it's so inherently _Danny_ that she doesn't think twice about surging forward to hug him. 

He stiffens. That's the first thing she notices, before the frigid temperature of his body or the fact that his form is slightly squishier and less solid than a human's should be. The scientist in her is going insane, hungering for more information about why he's breathing why his cheeks are tinged green, but the mother in her is wailing because he _tensed up._ He thought she would hurt him.

"...Mom?" he whispers. Maddie feels the blaster slip out of her back pocket— Jazz spotted it after all. It doesn't matter. 

Last night. Last night, Phantom and that hunter ghost had fought for a long time at the park, longer than was normal. Phantom finally managed to take the other ghost down only after being hit with some sort of ray that appeared to make him _stronger_ for a time. The other ghost apparently hadn't anticipated this effect of his own weapon and was quickly defeated afterward. And that sort of fight is routine for Phantom.

He's carried this for so long. That accident was a _year_ ago. She realizes now, that the ghost boy had shown up mere days after the incident. He's been out there, fighting... trying to keep the town _safe_ from all the ghosts that likely come through the portal, if she's being honest with herself. The missed curfews, the unexplained bruises, the slipping grades, the unending fatigue and the occasional snappishness, even Phantom managing to steal Fenton anti-ghost tech. All of it makes sense now. But why hadn't he _come_ to them? Why hadn't he asked for help? 

But then she remembers. She thinks about all the times Jack has threatened to rip him apart "molecule by molecule," and about her eagerness to try out new ways to capture him. She thinks about how angry she had gotten when Phantom had slipped once and called her 'mom'— she thought it was a ploy at her emotions, an attempt to get her to lower her guard. She and Jack have shot at him... they've _hurt_ him. 

And he's afraid of them. 

"I love you, Danny," she says. "You know that, right?" 

He relaxes and pushes his face into the crook of her neck like he did when he was a kid. Her hand automatically comes up to scratch gently at his head. Cold hands fist at the back of her jumpsuit, and his breath hitches as tears dampen her turtleneck. 

"Yeah," he says wetly. "Yeah, I know. I love you, too, Mom." 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for Phic Phight 2020! :D :D :D 
> 
> The prompt was from [ghostanimal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostanimal/pseuds/ghostanimal) and is as follows: "Danny being stuck as Phantom and forced to deal with situations that he'd normally be as Fenton (like going to school, having a family dinner, etc)"
> 
> This is kind of nothing like that? But I just got to thinking about the obvious question of "does the town know he's Phantom or not?" Because if the town doesn't know, then they have to find out soon enough. So, actually, we'll say this is the _prequel_ to the rest of the town finding out about it. Anyways. Hope you like it? 
> 
> (The title of this fic comes from the Fall Out Boy song of the same name. :D )
> 
> (Also! Just to clarify, whatever Skulker hit Danny with made his ghost half stronger for a time, so his powers got stronger but he also got stuck as Phantom.)


End file.
